


Summer Eskpedition - World Oceans Day

by erasvita



Category: Those Who Went Missing
Genre: Gen, Summer, TWWM, esk, marine biome, mountain biome, summer eskpedition, world oceans day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2020-06-24 09:21:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19720789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erasvita/pseuds/erasvita
Summary: Summer Eskpedition





	Summer Eskpedition - World Oceans Day

The air was clear and cool this high up in the air, with the steep mountains spiraling away to the ground on all sides. 

It was a lush, wild land; filled with trees, mountains, and lakes. All manner of animals roamed the wilderness, from those in the sky to those on the earth and those that swam beneath the water’s cool surface. And now that it was spring, now that the days were warm and the sun was kind, all of them had come out to play. 

The pale esk couldn’t go anywhere without seeing a bird or rabbit cross her path - and nor would she want to. A thriving wilderness meant an abundance of wildlife, and a healthy ecosystem would not want for creatures to inhabit it.

The ground was dry and dusty beneath the esk’s feet, as familiar to her as the many miles preceding it. This was her boundary, a long and winding trail that cut through mountains and valleys. And yet no matter how many times she walked its path, she would never tire of it. This was her home, and the splendor and beauty of it would never cease to leave her in awe.

And yet today the wind was blowing east, and she found herself on a section of a trail that looped back on itself near the coast. 

As the wind sighed over her, it carried on its wings a tanginess from the ocean, a scent she had not yet experienced.

She came to a stop, and by instinct her eyes turned towards the ocean. She could not see it - there were miles of mountains and plains and beaches separating them - and yet she knew there was something there.

For a moment she was still, as fog emanated slowly and steadily from her body. It pooled at her feet, crawling its way across the ground around her, dissipating quickly in the bright sunlight. She sat and she breathed, and her fog pulsed with every breath she took, like mist filling her lungs.

And then without stopping to think, without second guessing her actions, she stepped off the path.

She climbed boulders and crossed streams, startled a flock of blackbirds and ran with a herd of deer. Faster and faster she went, fog trailing like a cloak as she trekked through a land she had only ever glimpsed from afar. And the farther she went, the more the landscape changed.

Eventually the trees began to thin, and the bushes turned to tall grasses that swayed in the breeze. She crossed highways and small roads, watching with blank eyes at the cars that trundled down the coast. But she did not stop - her legs were moving of their own accord, as she followed the wind that whispered to her of water that never ended, that roiled like storm clouds and crashed upon white sand. 

At long last she could see it - and yet, she was not sure what she was seeing. From atop a hill she could see an endless blue, a blue that stretched as far as the horizon where it merged with the sky. It glistened beneath the sunlight like some strange kind of gem, dancing in the spring warmth. The smell of salt was strong here, and the wind held many things she did not recognize. In the distance she could hear a dull roaring.

After crossing a final road, the grass turned to sand. It was similar to that beside the lakes she has walked through and yet, it was entirely different. This sand was warm and deep and streaked with gray, and peppered with strange looking rocks.

She stepped slowly across the sand, and the roaring grew louder, and the scents grew stronger. But it was the ocean that sang, that danced and crashed and howled upon the sandy shore.  
Closer and closer, until the mist from the ocean kissed her face and tangled itself with the fog emanating from her. _Come here, child._ It transfixed her with its waves, and when finally her paws touched the water, it seemed that it, too, was trying to draw her in with its current, lapping at her ankles and tugging at her with such force when it receded. 

She stopped at last, knee deep into the murky water. Her fog hovered like a blanket over the water, each new wave brushing it away like dust. 

And when she looked down she thought she saw an esk within the foam, swimming alongside fish and other creatures. 

A sense of unsteadiness still roiled through the pale esk, much like the waves that crashed against the beach. So she stepped further out into the ocean, letting herself be drawn out by its current, unsure of what she would find beneath the waves but ready to experience it all the same.

To be continued....

**Author's Note:**

>  **Final word count: 805**  
>  **AP Breakdown**  
>  Base Score: 16 AP (Writing: 805 words)  
> +5 AP (Elemental: 5 AP * 1)  
> +5 AP (Personal Work Bonus)  
> +8 AP (Storyteller Bonus: 8 AP * 1)  
>  _Total AP per submission: 34_
> 
>  **GP Breakdown**  
>  Base Score: 8 GP (Writing: 805 words)  
> +5 GP (Elemental: 5 GP * 1)  
> +6 GP (Storyteller Bonus: 6 GP * 1)  
>  _Total GP per submission: 19_


End file.
